One thing about this time of the year is the number of spiders, I always notice that by late September there are loads of them in the garden, many of which are big (for UK standards) after a summer of eating various bugs and aphids in the garden.
Fortunately neither of us are afraid of spiders, and we are both pleased to see them as they do eat a huge number of pests in the garden, but why do so many insist on creating their webs across the footpaths. I have lost count of how many times I have had spiders web all over my face.
 |
| Love them or hate them, they are a great form of pest control. |
If I spot the web in my way in time I will try and avoid it or at least brush it out of the way, I have even been known to try and move one side to attach it somewhere else!
Gaz
This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.
I've been seeing more spiders, too. Never thought about why - but I suppose you're right - they're feasting before the dead of winter hits and there is no more juicy bugs around.
ReplyDeleteI've not spotted many yet, but am bracing myself for their inconvenient habit of building webs between the garden furniture and the plant house, making getting to the greenhouse awkward given I don't want to damage the webs... Lovely pic - I completely failed to get a decent one last year, so maybe this year...
ReplyDeleteThere have been lots of spiders in the garden all summer but they seem to acutely increase in numbers around this time. They are fascinating to watch especially when they catch prey on their web, but also have the habit of making webs on the most awkward of places. They are valuable friends in the garden, I even spotted one that managed to catch a vine weevil, yay! :)
ReplyDeleteWow - 'spider catching vine weevil,' is a headline we all like to read. When I was a postie I used to have to walk up garden paths with my arm upraised in front of my face - there's only so much web on the face you can take!!
ReplyDeleteGreat photo.
Haha, oh yes, the autumn spider. Just the other day I was standing undernieith my now dying hollyhock when I looked up to see a giant autumn spider. He was 4 inches away from my face, and gave me a quick jolt. I remember from my childhood, and while for much of my life spiders bothered me, gardening has mostly killed that fear. I can appreciate a lifestyle dedicated to hanging about in an unlikely place like a garden, sounds pretty good to me.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can tolerate them,but when you walk out the front door and get a single strand of web on a near baldie heid it feels like you have been engulfed.
ReplyDeleteHi David, I suspect the vine weevil accidentally fell into the spider's web from the foliage above. They are such a nasty pest, glad to see a spider got one of them!
ReplyDeleteSame here Nat, I was never keen on spiders until I got more into gardening and now I appreciate and regard them as important part of the garden. Fortunately it's quite rare to have poisonous types in the UK.
That sounds funny Alistair! You can always regard it as a web comb over :)